CBS’ ‘Big Brother,’ ABC’s ‘Rising Star’ Post Ratings Gains Sunday

ABC’s first-year singing competition “Rising Star” was on the rise Sunday, picking up steam on an overall higher-rated night for the net just hours after its coverage of the World Cup. CBS’ “Big Brother” shot up too, delivering its best Sunday numbers of the season and ruling as the night’s top series in key demos.

The World Cup Final, airing late in the afternoon on ABC, netted a 9.7 overnight household rating, according to Nielsen, making it the third-highest early score ever for a match in the States — behind only the 1994 final between Brazil and Italy (12.8) and the Round of 16 match that year between USA and Brazil (10.4). Total-viewer estimates will be released later today.

Looking at the primetime action, ABC carried over plenty of viewers from soccer as a repeat episode of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (1.5 rating/6 share in adults 18-49, 6.1 million viewers overall) shot up about 75% from last week’s score (0.9) to win its hour in demos. The bigger start to the night helped “Wipeout” (season-high 1.3/4 in 18-49, 4.5 million viewers overall) and “Rising Star” (1.4/4 in 18-49, 4.8 million viewers overall), both of which gained two-tenths week to week. For “Rising Star” (pictured), its fourth episode out-rated the previous two (1.2) and came in behind only its June 22 premiere (1.5). A repeat “Castle” (0.7/2 in 18-49, 3.4 million viewers overall) closed things out for ABC, which won the night in 18-49.

At CBS, “60 Minutes” (1.0/4 in 18-49, 8.1 million viewers overall) remained the night’s top series in total viewers even if it’s a laggard in young adults. From there, “Big Brother” (2.1/7 in 18-49, 6.6 million viewers overall) more than doubled the newsmag’s adults 18-49 audience, rising two tenths from last week to match its highest rating on any night since its Thursday premiere (June 26).

The Eye flipped the timeslots for its firstrun Sunday dramas, with “Unforgettable” at 9 p.m. (0.9/3 in 18-49, 6.1 million viewers overall) rising two-tenths from last week, and “Reckless” at 10 (0.6/2 in 18-49, 4.0 million viewers overall) holding at its 9 p.m. level of last week.

Fox opened with the one-hour special “Brain Games: Brain vs. Body” (0.8/2 in 18-49, 1.5 million viewers overall), followed by encores of “The Simpsons” at 8 (0.9/3 in 18-49, 2.1 million viewers overall) and 8:30 (1.1/4 in 18-49, 2.4 million viewers overall), “Family Guy” (1.2/4 in 18-49, 2.6 million viewers overall) and “American Dad” (0.9/3 in 18-49, 2.1 million viewers overall).

NBC aired a repeat of “American Ninja Warrior” (0.6/2 in 18-49, 2.4 million viewers overall), followed by back-to-back encores of “Law & Order: SVU” at 9 (0.6/2 in 18-49, 2.3 million viewers overall) and 10 (0.8/2 in 18-49, 2.9 million viewers overall). In 18-49, the second episode of “SVU” edged out ABC’s “Castle” encore for the broadcast lead in the demo, with both shows finishing ahead of CBS’ firstrun “Reckless.”